To See You Smile
by Lieano2
Summary: What would I give to live where you are. What would I pay to stay here beside you. What would I do to see you smiling at me..." KuroFai version of the Little Mermaid..
1. Day 0 Part 1

A/N: So, I'm sure this concept has been done a thousand times… But I really liked it, so I just /had/ to write it down. :3 I don't think I did that bad of a job… But I'll leave that up to you guys. Enjoy!

Chapter 1  
Day: O

The waters were calm until a translucent blue fin knocked the resting particles out of their place, torpedoing by without a seconds pause. The speedy swimmer angled up just slightly, gradually making its way to the surface. The water rushed along the smooth, pale skin of his torso and slick blue scales of his long fish fin. It played shamelessly with the long blonde locks of hair, continuously knocking them in and out of his fair human face.

For a long while, his swim was uninterrupted, until just seconds before actually breaking the surface when a summon raised from the depths he had just swam away from. "Fai!"

The merman smiled softly at the melodic voice calling to him, and stopped, turning to greet its owner. "Hello, darling Chi. How are you?"

The frantic mermaid took a moment to catch her breath when she had finally caught up with him. "Ch-Chi's fine.. But His Majesty… He…"

Fai sighed, a bubble floating to the surface. "Of course. I'll be there in a bit." However, he did not turn his course around, but instead returned his attention to the thin barrier between the water and the sky hanging above it. Slowly, ripples and small waves below him started to push him forward, as if the sea itself were trying to say, 'You belong out there, not in here.'

Chi watched in puzzled amazement, slowly following her friend. "Fai?" she prompted quietly.

All it took was that small call of his name, and Fai was propelling himself upward to finish what he had started. He broke the surface dramatically, bony chest pushed out in front, head thrown back, and translucent blond locks flinging droplets of water every which way. After a brief moment of basking in the warmth of the setting sun, he settled down, half out of the water, searching the vast sea before him for something new and different.

Hesitantly, Chi's little blond head also popped through the surface, though in a less climatic way than her partner. Her wide chocolate eyes scanned the sea in front of her before the rest of her head eased out and gazed up at the blue-eyed merman beside her as her long blonde locks rose slowly to rest on the surface around her. "Fai?" she asked again, hoping that the man wasn't in some sort of impermeable trance. "What are you doing?"

"Looking," Fai absently answered.

"What if a human sees you?"

"Human? Where?" Fai asked, half joking as he put a flat palm to his forehead and began squinting into the distance. Chi giggled a little, bubbles breaking the surface around her as she subconsciously sunk half of her head back into the waters. But Fai's search for human life lost some of its exaggeration as a faint blob appeared on the horizon. His smirk vanished and his eyes squinted against the approaching darkness. Chi realized soon enough that he wasn't joking around anymore, and followed his gaze. Before she could even spot the new phenomenon, he dived back into the waters and began racing for it. Chi jumped and struggled to gather herself before hesitantly following him.

The closer the merpeople got, the more they began to wonder how they hadn't recognized its presence before. The ship was practically shaking from the sounds it emitted. There was music, stomping, laughing, clanging and chattering, and every so often one of the canons would blast colorful speck of fire into the sky that would emit a loud boom every time they exploded. It was one of these explosions that nearly made Chi scream as she sunk back into the waters, tugging on Fai's fin urgently. Fai subconsciously obeyed, lowering his abdomen back into the waves, but keeping head up to eye the ship for a moment longer.

A smirk then conquered his face.

He joined Chi, grasping her upper arms. "Chi, can you do me a favor and go tell Ashura that I'll be late for whatever it is he wants me for?"

Chi's eyes widened. "Why? Fai's not going to-"

"Oh yes I am!"

"You can't! What if they catch you?"

"They can't. I'm the fastest thing out here!" Then, as if to prove his point, he released his friend and darted through the waters at an alarming speed, closing the distance between himself the ship's hull. He popped out of the water just in time for a blue and green explosion to lighten up his face. When the particles in the sky began to fade against the now deep-blue hue, he did a quick survey of the area around him and was not too surprised to see that Chi hadn't followed him. He turned back to the on-water show as pink and red in the shape of a land-flower caught his eyes and caused them to widen in awe. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

XOXOX

"Kurogane, what's wrong?" a small brunette girl asked, as she timidly approached a dark, brooding man who had been nursing a cup of ale on a bench for a while.

The man grunted to acknowledge her existence and raised his crimson eyes just ever so slightly to glare at her. "Shouldn't you be dancing with your boyfriend?"

"Syaoran's worried about you too," the brunette, Sakura, responded absently before her face flushed and she quickly added, "A-And he's not my boyfriend!"

Kurogane just scoffed and threw his head to the side. He wasn't really in the mood to play this game with her, and she quickly caught on. "Well, if something is bothering you, you know you can always talk to us and… When you feel like joining the party… Just say so…"

"Just wake me up when we get home," he grunted, folding his arms and lowering his chin to his chest. Sakura took the sign as the end of the conversation and turned back to the dancing where Syaoran was waiting with worry etched into his young features.

Meanwhile, Fai had finally managed to pull himself away from the fireworks show long enough to eye the ship with determination. He wanted to catch a good glimpse of what was happening on board, but wasn't quite sure how to go about it. His blue orbs eventually spotted the strong rails along the deck and twinkled with excitement. One long fingered hand reached out into the darkness and grasped around it. The first time he tried to pull himself up, he slipped and fell, surprised by his sudden weight-gain out of the water. He went crashing back into the sea, but luckily a firework exploded just as he splashed.

It was about another half of an hour later before the poor merman finally wrapped his arms around the rail and got a good look at the happy party-going humans that it held. His eyes sparkled with fascination. Everyone was dancing and having a good time. Well, everyone except for one dark man in the corner. Fai's gaze was drawn to him like a magnet.

'What a beautiful creature,' Fai decided with a playful smirk he almost wished the human could see.

Unfortunately, his peaceful observation was interrupted by an unnatural bang and a loud scream alerting the other passengers of the fire that had broken out below deck with a firework-gone-bad. Mayhem erupted as the flames quickly ate through the wood of the ship.

Screams filled the air and mixed together. "Put it out! Save the princess! Abandon ship!"

Kurogane leapt out of his chair and started scanning the crowd. As one of the princess's bodyguards, the least he could do was keep her alive.

Fai watched as the fire swept along the deck toward him. From where he was, he could feel the heat it gave off, and he had a feeling, inferred from the way the humans were panicking, that it would be bad if it reached him.

A sudden lurch of the boat sent him flailing toward the cool waters below. It also pushed Kurogane forward against the rail to involuntarily look overboard. Just before the force of his weight against its weak hold broke it, he found that he was staring down into a shimmering blue that didn't belong to the sea. Fai, consequently, was staring up into red that didn't belong to the flames.

In a split second, the slow-motion staring contest was over, and both men went crashing to the water. Most of the ship came down on top of them. Almost as soon as he broke the surface, Kurogane was out cold. Fai noticed this at once and wrapped his long arms around the human, pumping his fin furiously to get away from their impending doom.

The rest of the crew had been much luckier than the dark-haired bodyguard, nestled safely into emergency lifeboats and rowing for the shore that was lighted with the tall castle.

"Is everyone here, Souma?" Princess Tomoyo asked her other bodyguard sitting on her left.

"Almost," Souma replied, grief sown deep into the gaze she gave her princess.

Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock. She had clearly been expecting a better answer. "A-Almost?!"

"It's Kurogane, your Highness. He's… He's nowhere to be seen. I don't think he made it onto a lifeboat…"

"Ku… Kurogane?" The princess's ashen face looked down at her hands for a moment. Then she stood up and screamed, "KUROGANE!" At first, her subjects were unsure of how to act, but after the third or fourth call, they began to follow her actions, slowly spreading the call out to the other lifeboats. But still, there was no answer. Just the crashing of the waves and the faint crackling of the fire from the sinking ship behind them.

XOXOX

Dawn was poking over the sky when Fai finally managed to pull his lifeless human onto a sandy beach that a cliff-residing castle over looked. To the blonde's dismay, even though his capture was now out of the water, he wasn't immediately waking up.

Fai looked woefully down into the still, yet handsome, face of the human. Before he knew it, he was pressing his mouth to Kurogane's, forcing oxygen into the drowning man's windpipes. Fai watched with relief as he coughed, sputtering out water, and then smiled as those crimson eyes cracked open slightly against the rising sun. They fluttered wide as he began to regain consciousness. Whoever this was above him, they had the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen. "Who…"

Fai interrupted him, diving his head down and capturing the man in much more passionate kiss than his first, before swiftly turning to dive back into the sea, his blue fin disappearing beneath waves before Kurogane could even open his eyes again.

Said man almost took an entire minute to realize that the other end of his kiss was gone. He sat up and grazed the waters almost frantically. But there was nothing there. Not even a sign of previous life.

"Who was that?" He touched his lips, hardly realizing that his heart was beating faster than usual.

"Whoever it was, I'll find them," he decided suddenly as he struggled to his feet and faced the sea, using the rippling waves as a witness. "And make sure… to thank them properly." With that in mind, the bodyguard turned and lumbered to his palace.

TBC…

A/N: So, um, I feel like I have some explaining to do. ^^; Bare with me?

First: This bothered me in 'Small World' too. In both of the rough drafts (for this and that story) I had Chi talking normally and when I read them I was like "What? No! Doesn't Chi talk in 3rd person?" It's been a while since I've read Chobits, and the beginning of TRC isn't much help… I'm right, right? I mean… does anyone think Chi is OOC? Just so that I know for future reference? Thanks.

Second: My sense of time is really screwed up. XD; Sorry about this. It usually is. Just bare with me on that, okay?


	2. Day 0 Part 2

A/N: Soooo, I think I'm keeping the 'Ursula' chapter independent from the beginning of Day 1. That means no Kurogane this time. ^^; Sorry~ But I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Chapter 2

Day 0

Fai swam through the sea slowly, reluctantly pointed in the direction of Mermaid City where Ashura was 'patiently' waiting for him.

A webbed hand reached to his face and touched his lips tentatively. "He was an amazing creature," he sighed as they lowered back to his side peacefully. "If only I could meet him again… As a human! Oh, but that's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible-"

"-If you follow your dreams."

Fai froze, then started twisting his body around, searching for the source of the two mysterious voices. "I'm sorry," he called out boldly. "Who's there?"

The answers to his call were two young mermaids that floated out from behind bushes of kelp, identical smirks on their matching faces. They were almost the same, if one discarded their very different styles of hair - short and pink or long and blue.

"Who are you?" Fai asked calmly as the two girls started to circle him almost hypnotically.

"Maru-"

"-and Moro."

"Maru and Moro?" he repeated, letting a friendly smile play across his face. "Nice to meet you. Where are you from?"

"Around."

"Near."

"Near?" Despite his attempt to maintain his manners, Fai chuckled a little. "The middle of nowhere?"

The girls pouted and stopped circling. "It's not nowhere!" they shouted together, perfectly in sync.

"Anyway, you should come-"

"-And meet our boss."

In a flash, the girls had grabbed onto one of Fai's wrists each and were pulling him through the water. The blonde merman yelped and pumped his tail, trying to keep up. Yet he still managed to ask, "Who's your boss?"

"The Sea Witch," both girls answered simultaneously.

Fai felt his heart rate speed up a little. "The Sea Witch? Yuuko?"

"The very one."

The trio stopped, stunned as the beautiful, smooth voice rose into their conversation, at first with no obvious origin. Then Fai noticed that they had arrived at the opening of a long cave. Not much could be seen of the inside other than a glowing pink crystal ball, and a dark shadow pushed up against the wall. Waiting just outside the opening was a young, nervous looking merman with black hair and a strange human contraption in front of his eyes. But Fai had a good feeling he hadn't been the one to confirm his curiosity.

"Yuuko!"

"Yuuko!"

"We brought a man with a wish!" the girls chimed together, dancing their small victory in front of their guest.

The shadow stirred and before he knew it, Fai was floating before an octopus mermaid; her long strands of pitch-black hair almost blending in with her many tentacles. Her eyes were what got him though. They were sharp, beautiful, and all knowing. It was as if they were looking right into his soul.

"Yuuko the Sea Witch," Fai breathed.

"And you are Fai, one of the Merking's top advisors," Yuuko stated casually as if it was common knowledge.

"You know who I am?"

"Of course," Yuuko said with mirth. "I know everyone in this sea, and even a few outside of it."

Fai smiled to cover up his faltering nerves. "You must be busy."

"I am. Which is why we have to make this quick." Yuuko swam forward so she could get a better look into Fai's eyes, which surprised him even more. If he had felt like she had been looking at his soul just moments ago, where was she looking now? "You have a wish, don't you?"

Fai hesitated. "Um… I do…"

"You want to be human?"

"How did you know?"

This time, Yuuko only shrugged. "Lucky guess."

"Can you grant my wish?"

The Sea Witch smiled. "As it just so happens, I can. For a price, of course."

Fai looked grim. Of course it was too good to be true. "What do you want?"

Yuuko pulled up her long fingers and brushed them along the left side of Fai's face, moving his thin hairs only slightly to get close to, but without actually touching, his blue eye. "I think this eye should be a reasonable price."

Fai pushed back only a little and shifted his body so that his right side seemed to be put before his left defensively. "Just that eye?" he asked despite himself.

"Yes. One eye is enough for this wish."

"Well, what are the terms of the wish?"

Yuuko nodded as if she had almost forgot to inform him of those important details. She turned back to the small cave, flanked on either side by Maru and Moro. Fai tentatively followed as they circled the crystal ball eerily. As he passed the dark-haired merman that appeared to be just a bored watchman, he instinctively raised a hand and said, "Hi."

The merman smirked a little sheepishly and nodded back, but then proceeded with giving Fai a look as though he felt sorry for the blonde.

"Watanuki!" Yuuko snapped, almost making the poor kid jump right out of his fin. "Will you be a good boy and fetch me those things that can help?"

Watanuki, as the merman was called, sighed and shrugged. "I guess," he muttered in boredom, before he circled behind the outside of the cave and was gone.

Yuuko waved her thin fingers over her magical ball mystically. "I want to try out these new toys that I made, so really I'll only be holding your eye temporarily. I mean, it could be forever, but you'll have the opportunity to take it back."

Fai's eyes popped open, all defenses fleeing. "How will I do that?"

"There is a human you care for that is your reason for wanting to visit that world, isn't there?"

Fai blushed just a little and had to avert his gaze, trying to recompose himself as he murmured, "Well, 'care' is a pretty big word since I don't even know his name… I would rather use the word 'interest'…"

Yuuko just smirked in acknowledgement, then continued with her plan of action. "I'll give you a three day trial on the land as a human."

"As a human?" Fai asked, his excitement picking up once again. "You mean with legs and everything?"

Yuuko nodded warmly. "Yes. If in the three days you can accomplish a difficult task, you will remain a human forever and I will return your eye to you."

That all sounded too good to be true. Of course, there was a catch. "What task?"

"By the time the sun sets on the third day you have to make the man you seek smile."

There was a pause of silence for a moment and then Fai chuckled with underlying nervousness. "Make him smile? In three days? That's it?"

"That's it."

"What's the catch?"

"That is the catch."

"Who could possibly be so-"

At that moment, Watanuki returned. In his hands were two almost identical, strange, bunny things. The only thing that set them apart were the opposing black and white colors of their fur, and the blue or red jewels in the middle of their foreheads.

"What are they?" the blonde merman asked, eyeing their oval-shaped feet. "Land creatures?"

"They are of the land, sky and sea," Yuuko explained, taking the twins and thanking her helper. "I call them Mokona Modoki."

"Mokona?" Fai repeated with an amused smile as he leaned toward the lifeless creatures.

"This one-" The white bunny suddenly bounced to life, raising a small round paw and saying, "Pun!" in a high-pitched voice that made Fai float backwards, startled. "-Is the one I'll send to land with you," Yuuko explained, amusement at Fai's reaction evident in her tone. Maru and Moro danced behind her as Watanuki rolled his eyes and drifted back to his post at the front of the cave. "As long as it is near you, you will remain a human. It will also be able to connect with this Mokona-" The other black bunny bounced to life, imitating its twin, but with the personalized greeting of "Chita!" "-So that we can talk almost any time. This will come in handy, especially near the end of your three day journey."

"And so that I can check on how you are treating my eye."

Yuuko seemed surprised, but only for a very brief moment. "So does this mean you'll agree?"

Fai nodded. "It'll be a little adventure in my boring life. And besides, if I don't like the life of a human, I can just stop trying to make Mr. Black smile."

Yuuko raised an eyebrow, her smirk unwavering. "Mr. Black?"

Fai nodded, a playful smile gracing his visage. "I'll come up with a cuter nickname once I meet him face to face."

"Like Sunshine! Or Buttons!"

Fai laughed as the white Mokona floated into his vicinity. "I can tell we'll be best friends."

"Yay!" Mokona cheered, snuggling into his bare chest.

The black Mokona pouted as he floated by himself while Yuuko rummaged around in a dark corner of her cave. "Yuuko, I want a best friend!"

Yuuko tilted her head slightly in amusement as she returned from the shadows with a small black box in hand. "Oh, I'm sure Watanuki would just be thrilled to have you as a playmate."

Watanuki responded to the sound of his name, but his face turned to one of grim annoyance when he processed the meaning of the words. "I what?!"

"Yay!" Mokona-black shouted, floating for Watanuki to shower him with little bunny love. "Best friends!"

"Best friends! Best friends!" Maru and Moro chanted, grasping each others hands and circling around Watanuki who was frantically trying to separate himself from the Mokona. Fai and his Mokona laughed at the sight.

"Looks like it'll be a lot of fun down here," the blonde noted, casually turning his attention back to Yuuko.

Yuuko smiled and nodded. "Yes. And I hope that you are happy where you are going as well. But first…" Yuuko opened the box in hand and withdrew a slick black eye patch. "Your price."

Fai's expression fell almost immediately, along with the giddy atmosphere. He gingerly took the patch from the box and weighed it in his hands for a moment. He took a deep breath, held it, and slipped the bandage over his head and positioned it in front of his left eye.

As soon as the deed was done, Fai erupted in light. He was screaming in pain as the flashing lights flooded throughout his body, ripping him of his mer-like qualities. Yuuko shut her box just as a small white orb began to form inside of it. She brushed a hand over the lid with slight remorse and murmured, "I'll take good care of it, Fai." As she drifted back into her cave, Fai's screams began to fade and his new two-legged body began to sink, lifeless after choking on the water he could no longer breathe.

Mokona swam around Fai calmly before grabbing a limp arm and dragging him rather effortlessly to the surface.

Yuuko watched from her shadows as they went. "And good luck."

_TBC..._

A/N:

Okay, so, not the best. But fun, right? There were some things I'd like to add, but I don't think I will because I'm lazy like that. I'll just slip them in at the end.


	3. Day 1 Part 1

A/N: I'm sorry it took so long. I was working on the rest of the story and re-did a lot of stuff. ^^; Hopefully the two chapters that are already up don't mess with my new plans, but I don't think they will.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your reviews! Hopefully now that I have everything sorted out the chapters will come more smoothly! -^^- Please leave me more comments and keep sending your love!!!

* * *

Day: 1

Part: 1

Fai awoke to the soothing sound of the ocean rolling out onto the beach. He moaned and put an arm in front of his face to block the searing sun fighting through his eyelid. When he did manage to open his eye, he blinked it in confusion at his arm. There was a severe lack of blueish-green scales and a surplus of pure, pale, human skin.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" came a familiarly cheerful voice. Fai removed his hand to stare at the fox-like eyes. "Wakey, wakey!"

"Mokona," Fai breathed, cracking a smile. "Where am I?"

"On the beach!" Mokona responded happily as the blonde struggled into a sitting position. "Close to the castle! But we better hustle out of here soon!"

"Why?"

"Because," Mokona giggled. "Humans don't walk around stark naked! You need clothes before anyone sees you!"

Fai blinked and then finally looked down at his brand new appendages. He wiggled the toes, enticing a small giggle from his throat. Slowly, his eye began to travel up his slender new legs until a faint blush crept across his cheeks. "What's that?"

"Something you need to cover quickity quick!" Mokona said matter-of-factly. Fai nodded, but he didn't move otherwise, rooted in his confusion. The magical white creature was already frantically searching the sandy land around them. "What are you doing just sitting around?! Stand up!!"

"Um…" Fai scanned the sand awkwardly before asking, "How?"

Mokona sank out of her anxious high into a pensive manner. "Ohhhhh… Yeah, I guess you wouldn't know." She inhaled, then said, "Alright, um… Start out by moving your knees to bring your legs under you."

Fai tested out her instruction and promptly fell onto his side. Luckily, he fell on his left side, so no sand could penetrate the eye that he lacked. But he did have to spit some of the annoying grains out of his mouth.

Mokona was silent for just a moment, then shrugged. "Well, you tried."

Fai, using pure upper-body strength, managed to pull himself into the sitting position he'd had before, but with a slightly more awkward placement of his legs. He then glared at his little helper playfully. "I'm taking it that wasn't supposed to happen?"

With a giggle, she tried again. "Try putting your right foot onto the sand and that kneed in the air." Fai obeyed. At first, he had quite a bit of trouble untangling his legs, but he did eventually pull through. Almost an entire hour later, after much struggling and falling, the blonde was finally on his feet. His legs were shaking inexpertly, but he hadn't fallen for a whole five minutes, so he was feeling pretty proud of himself.

"Hey!" shouted a booming voice from across the beach, effectively ruining Fai's record.

The merman gasped and started wobbling. "Mokona!" He flung out a desperate arm for the creature's support, but his cries for help were not answered. Luckily, Fai had become a master at falling and managed to throw himself backwards. Even more luckily, he was caught by two strong arms under his flailing ones.

Fai smiled and tilted his head back to thank the stranger, but stopped when his one eye focused on a beautiful crimson pair. He felt his stomach turn over a little bit in excitement.

"Who the hell do you think you are streaking through the princess's private beach?" the large man asked angrily. "You nearly gave her a heart attack when she saw you bumbling around out here."

"I…Uh…"

"Are you drunk?"

Fai blinked dumbly, but quickly covered his confusion with a wide, awkward smile. "Yes?"

Kurogane rolled his eyes. "Well that would explain a lot." With that settled, the bodyguard took a very brief moment to observe the man below him. From this angle, he looked very familiar. Especially that one blue eye. Kurogane couldn't help but widen his own in mild surprise. "Hey, are you…"

"Am I…" Fai cunningly turned the rest of his body around in his captor's arms, staring up at him with one hungry eye. "…what?"

Kurogane took notice of the black cloth over the left eye and sighed. "No. It couldn't be you."

Fai pouted in disappointment. "How do you know?"

"Because that person had two of the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen," the dark-haired bodyguard mumbled without really realizing it.

Fai just sighed and regretfully dismissed it with an "Oh."

Kurogane frowned and straightened himself as if he was about to address an important manner (probably one regarding the inappropriateness in this stranger's chosen attire), but before he could get a word in edge-wise, the blonde jumped up into his face.

"I'm Fai D. Fluorite. Fai for short. What's your name?"

"Ever heard of personal space?"

Fai blinked. "No. But it's nice to meet you, Mr. Personal Space!"

Kurogane's glare only hardened. "My name is not 'Personal Space'. That's what you're not giving me."

"Huh?"

"You're too close!"

"Oh." Fai moved his body back a little, and pretty much immediately stumbled on his wobbly legs. Luckily, Kurogane caught him again, lashing out for his wrists and freezing him at an angle.

Fai beamed. "Thanks again, Mr. Black!"

"My name isn't Mr. Black either!"

"Sorry. I'm just improvising seeing as you don't have a name yet."

"You seem a little too sly to be drunk," the bodyguard observed with suspicion. Fai only smiled innocently, alluring a sigh of defeat from the other man. "If I told you my name you'd probably only forget it in the morning."

Fai playfully leaned into Kurogane, pressing his naked body up against the bigger man entirely. "I don't think I could ever forget the name of such a handsome creature."

Kurogane unintentionally blushed. He'd finally had enough and harshly threw Fai back onto the sand.

Fai grimaced as the sand swiftly penetrated a very uncomfortable place. "So mean."

"Yeah, I am," Kurogane growled. "So let that be a lesson, idiot."

He turned to leave, but Fai wasn't willing to let him go yet. "Wait!" the blonde called out, stretching a pale hand before him for emphasis. Remarkably, it worked. Even Fai was a little surprised when the bodyguard turned to his call, but he didn't let it stop him from asking, "Um, could you possibly help me?"

"What? Can't you walk?"

Fai shook his head meekly. "No. I-I mean… Not while I'm drunk."

Kurogane considered it for a moment, then released a long, exasperating sigh to make it painfully obvious that he wasn't at all thrilled with his decision to turn around and lend a hand to the streaker.

As they hobbled toward the massive castle looming over them, Fai couldn't help but continuously glance toward Kurogane's stoic face as his eager resolve echoed throughout his mind. 'Oh yeah. I'll definitely make you smile before three days are up.'

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Fai bravely let go of the rail and took a couple of firm steps. It had been even more difficult balancing himself in these awkward contraptions the humans called 'shoes', but after some extra solitary practice, he pretty much had the art of walking down. When he reached the end of the empty hallway, he turned on his heals and beamed triumphantly.

"Yay!" Mokona cheered from a few steps away.

"What's going- Oh. It's just you."

Mokona instantly disappeared into an unknown, even to Fai, hiding place, as the blonde turned to face the intruder. "Hey, Mr. Black!" he practically sang. "I missed you! Where'd you go?"

Kurogane just grunted at the nickname, still not loving the idea of disclosing his identity to the felon. "To talk to my princess about what to do with you."

"What did she say?"

Kurogane let his eyes roll to the top of his head, but not so much at Fai. The gesture was more directed toward the memory. "She wants to meet you before we make any decisions."

Fai nodded, and then let his attention alter. He took five proud steps forward and beamed at the bodyguard. "Look! I can walk!"

Kurogane gave Fai a baffled look. "Um.. Awesome. Good for you?"

"Yay! I got praise from Mr. Black!" Suddenly Fai broke out into a full run that appeared practiced. He triumphantly ended his sprint with a tackle that almost knocked Kurogane too the ground.

"What the heck?!" the bodyguard roared as pale fingers snaked around the back of his head. "I thought you just learned to walk!"

"I did."

"And you can already run?!"

Fai shrugged nonchalantly. "Once I have the basics down, I'm a pretty quick learner."

Kurogane responded with an angry shove, releasing himself from the blonde. "Stop your shenanigans! We have to go see the princess now."

"Kay!" Fai chimed, nimbly bouncing up and down in one spot.

Kurogane began his irritated march down the hallway and Fai started to follow. But once the dark-haired man had his back turned, Fai looked over his shoulder just in time to spot a white little fur-ball poking her head around a vase. He winked and Mokona waved back, smiling, and silently wishing him luck.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Fai was pretty confident, up until he actually entered the throne room. The princess had more bodyguards and advisors than the entire mer-population put together, he was sure of it. They approached the throne and Kurogane stooped into a deep bow, quickly followed by his captive. The princess, whom Fai hadn't even had a good look at yet, giggled and said in a cheerful voice, "Who do we have here?"

"This is your guy, Princess Tomoyo," Kurogane muttered irritably as he rose to his feet. "The unlawful nudist I found in your private beach this morning."

Fai blushed as he followed Kurogane's actions and stood up. Bravely, he peered through his translucent blonde bangs at the royalty before him. She was cute. Too cute, actually. He wasn't entirely sure if she was old enough to be running the country. Then again, she was just the princess, so there could very well have been a king or queen lounging around somewhere. Nevertheless, by the way her subjects were treating her, and simply by the regal air that she gave off, he could tell that this dark haired child had quite a bit of power.

"Prince Fai?"

Fai lifted his head fully at the sound of his name, his jaw dropping just a little. When he saw the look on the princess's face, he realized that she was just as stunned as he. He blanked for a few minutes, not really knowing how to respond. How did she know who he was? He was quite sure the humans were unaware of the mer-people's presence under their waters. Was it okay to confirm his identity?

Clearly his hesitation was enough confirmation. "Oh, this is great!" Princess Tomoyo exclaimed. "We just received word that you were missing from your kingdom!"

"You did?" Fai asked, dread settling in the pit of his stomach.

Tomoyo nodded, still smiling. "I'll send word to your homeland immediately. It's about a five days journey from Valeria, so until then, Kurogane, would you mind watching over Prince Fai?"

"Valeria?" Fai murmured, one of his thin eyebrows cocking in confusion. That wasn't the name of his underwater country. They obviously had him confused with someone else. Fai let relief wash through him.

"Prince?!" Kurogane shouted at about the same time, his displeasure all over his face. "Him?! You've got to be kidding me!"

Fai, now totally comfortable with the situation, smirked slyly and slinked up against the bodyguard. "What? Is it so hard to believe that I'm a prince?"

"A little!" Kurogane roared sarcastically.

Tomoyo just giggled at the interaction. She could tell that this lost prince would have a wonderful three days in her kingdom while being escorted by Kurogane. "Be careful, Kurogane. He's royalty. Treat him as you would treat me."

The bodyguard eyed his princess wearily for a few moments before grunting incoherent noises and turning to leave the throne room without a word. Fai looked from the smiling princess to taller man with confusion.

"Go on, Prince Fai," Princess Tomoyo assured him kindly. "Soon you'll be back home. But until then, you're in good hands."

Fai nodded and then turned quickly to catch up with his grumpy escort.

_TBC...._

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A/N: Well…. that was a lot shorter than I anticipated. XD I thought I was gonna do the whole day… And I only did a little bit. But, hey, faster updates right? It's okay if I break up the days like this, yes? ;

On a completely different note, would Kurogane use the word shenanigans? I don't think so, but it'd be cute, right? X3

Anyway… Until next time, leave me comments! :D They're much appreciated! 3


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